Our Policy Coalition Work
The Food and Farm Democracy Initiative (formerly known as the Farm Bill Grassroots Capacity Building Project) is as a collaboration between National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, RAFI-USA, Red Clover Collaborative and Regenerative Agriculture Foundation, with generous grant support from the Waverley Street Foundation. While having a focus on advancing agricultural policies that address the climate crisis and racial disparities, this effort takes a broad perspective in supporting policy organizing as a whole.
The collaborators believe that successful, systemic policy change requires a diverse and sustained movement. Legislative success combines knowledgeable policy experts advocating in Washington DC and the vocal engagement of on-the-ground organizations from around the country. Participatory grantmaking tools are used to distribute the funds.
This Project is primarily focused on providing financial support and training to on-the-ground organizations, with the work largely conducted in partnership with leading agricultural policy coalitions. Components include the following:
- A Rapid Response Fund that provides small grants to support mobilizing activities. Learn More
- A Capacity Building Fund, hosted and fully operated at RAFI under their Grassroots Farm Bill Project, provides financial resources and training to Black, Indigenous, and organizations of color that would like to increase their involvement in policy advocacy. Learn More
On the Ground Response
As a new administration takes office in 2025, we remain committed to strengthening coalition engagement and supporting critical grassroots movements that promote a more equitable, diverse, and just agricultural landscape in the United States. Below, we outline our ongoing initiatives and will continue to provide regular updates on our plans and progress.
Farm Bill Rapid Response Fund
- The Rapid Response Fund is open to organizations that are members of these leading policy coalitions: Rural Coalition, NSAC, Native Farm Bill Coalition, National Family Farm Coalition, HEAL Food Alliance, and Good Food for All.
- Priority consideration is given to organizations with budgets under $3.5 million and organizations serving Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
- Funding decisions are made by a committee that includes staff from Rural Coalition, NSAC, HEAL Food Alliance, and National Family Farm Coalition.
- Over $2 million distributed to 85 unique organizations in four rounds of Farm Bill Rapid Response, with many returning grantees as we continue to support advocacy for a more just and equitable Farm Bill.
2022-2023 Farm Bill Rapid Response Grantees
Capacity Building Fund
- Led by RAFI-USA’s Climate and Equity Policy Project, this effort strives to put farmers of color at the center of policy conversations by providing funding and other forms of support.
- RAFI-USA provides opt-in opportunities for grantees to build capacity, such as trainings on the Farm Bill and federal policy process, advocacy, and space to convene and share experiences and peer support.
- Funding decisions made by a committee of BIPOC food systems leaders — Helga Garcia-Garza of Agri-Cultura Network, Zoe Holloman of the Midwest Farmers of Color Collective, Ife Kilimanjaro Ph.D. of Soul Fire Farm, and Sommer Sibilly of the US Virgin Islands Good Food Coalition.
- RAFI has regranted over $800,000 through three rounds of their Climate and Equity project. Their newest cohort of farmers and organizations began in Fall 2024.
- Read more about the Climate and Equity project at RAFI’s website linked here.
Our Farm Bill Grassroots Capacity Partners
The HEAL Food Alliance
The HEAL Food Alliance is a national multi-sector, multi-racial coalition of 55 organizations. We are led by our members, who represent over 2 million rural and urban farmers, ranchers, fishers, farm and food chain workers, indigenous groups, scientists, public health advocates, policy experts, community organizers, and activists. Together, these groups are building a movement to transform our food and farm systems from the current extractive economic model towards community control, care for the land, local economies, meaningful labor, and healthful communities nationwide, while supporting the sovereignty of all living beings.
National Family Farm Coalition
National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) was founded in 1986, at the height of the 1980s farm crisis, to be a voice for farmers in Washington, DC – and we still are. Today, we are the only national coalition representing grassroots farm, ranch, and fishing organizations in the nation’s capital. Through our 30 member groups, our members are fighting for farmer rights, fair prices, clean air and water, strong local economies, the right to sell and buy locally-grown and -processed food, the right to be free from corporate domination, the right to live in vibrant and healthy rural communities, and much more.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) is an alliance of grassroots organizations that advocates for federal policy reform to advance the sustainability of agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and rural communities. NSAC’s vision of agriculture is one where a safe, nutritious, ample, and affordable food supply is produced by a legion of family farmers who make a decent living pursuing their trade, while protecting the environment, and contributing to the strength and stability of their communities.
Red Clover Collaborative
Red Clover Collaborative partners with movement leaders, nonprofits, coalitions, funders, and networks to build the infrastructure that keeps the food and farm justice movement strong. With decades of experience across food systems, agriculture, and social justice, they tend to the health and well-being of the organizations and leaders that form the backbone of the food and farm justice movement. Their work collectively strengthens the systems and relationships that keep the food and farm justice movement cohesive, strategic, and sustainable.
Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA
Since our founding in 1990, RAFI-USA has recognized that our food system is deeply inequitable, where rural communities — their land, animals, and people — are exploited to benefit corporate power structures. Working across agricultural sectors and collaboratively through coalitions, we combine on–the-ground practical services and policy advocacy to ensure farmers have access to the tools they need to make the right choices for their farms and families as well as for their communities and the environment.
Rural Coalition
As one of the most diverse of all rural organizations, Rural Coalition (RC) is an alliance of farmers, farmworkers, indigenous, immigrant, and working people from throughout the United States who work to develop capacities of rural organizations and people to secure systemic change in order to protect and sustain their land and communities. Founded in 1978, RC has worked for 45 years to advance the interests of the historically-underserved producers and rural communities our coalition serves.